Wednesday, 29 July 2015

A print copy in trade paperback will be available within the next couple of weeks.

Coined in the 1950s, Kitchen Sink described British films, plays and
novels frequently set in the North of England, which showed working
class life in a gritty, no-nonsense, “warts and all” style, sometimes
referred to as social realism.
It became popular after the playwright John Osborne wrote Look Back
In Anger, simultaneously helping to create the Angry Young Men movement.
Films included Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, The Entertainer, A
Taste of Honey, The L-Shaped Room and The Loneliness of the Long
Distance Runner. TV dramas included Coronation Street and East Enders.
In recent years TV dramas that could rightly be described as kitchen
sink gothic include Being Human, with its cast of working class
vampires, werewolves and ghosts, and the zombie drama In the Flesh, with
its northern working class, down to earth setting.
In this anthology you will find stories that cover a wide range of
Kitchen Sink Gothic, from the darkly humorous to the weirdly strange and
occasionally horrific.

Table of contents:

1964 by Franklin MarshDerek Edge and the Sun-Spots by Andrew DarlingtonDaddy Giggles by Stephen BaconBlack Sheep by Gary FryJamal Comes Home by Benedict J. JonesWaiting by Kate FarrellLilly Finds a Place to Stay by Charles BlackThe Mutant's Cry by David A. SuttonThe Sanitation Solution by Walter GascoigneUp and Out of Here by Mark Patrick LynchLate Shift by Adrian ColeThe Great Estate by Shaun AveryNine Tenths by Jay EalesEnvelopes by Craig HerbertsonTunnel Vision by Tim MajorLife is Prescious M. J. WesolowskiCanvey Island Baby by David Turnbull

Tuesday, 28 July 2015

The paperback version of Kitchen Sink Gothic is now in the process of being published. All we are waiting for is a proof copy before finalising the process. Hopefully this will happen before the end of the month.

In the meantime we have arranged for a kindle version to be available within the next twenty-four hours.

Thursday, 23 July 2015

Several weeks ago I had my first delivery via a courier from the printers of my horror novel Moloch's Children. Unfortunately, we were away for a few days at the time and the courier unwisely decided to leave the parcel behind the locked gates of our bookshop rather than with a neighbour. As the photo below shows, a thief was easily able to reach the parcel and rip it open. Whoever it was certainly expected something more lucrative for their efforts than a few copies of my book!

Anyway, a fresh delivery has now been received. And I have added a notice to our door asking couriers not to leave parcels in that area in future. Lesson learned!!!

There's a great review for my re-issued collection His Own Mad Demons on hellnotes by Marvin P. Vernon, even if it does use the wrong cover (it's the one for the Hazardous Press version rather than the Parallel Universe one that has replaced it). This is the correct cover:

His Own Mad Demons – Book Review

His Own Mad Demons David A. Riley Parallel Universe Publications April 13th, 2015 Reviewed by Marvin P. Vernon
The central theme of the five stories in David A. Riley‘s original collection titled His Own Mad Demons
is of the occult and demonology. Some of them take place around a
British pub called The Potter’s Wheel and near an area named Grudge’s
End. I have always liked that move when the author place their tales
around a region whether it is real or fictitious. It gives it color and a
continuity that helps create an aura of familiarity once you have the
“feel” of the area in your head. And as is often with writers of fantasy
and horror, they usually drop you in a place you would not necessarily
want to visit and most certainly not spend the night.
I like Riley’s style. It is a little old fashioned and sort of Twilight Zone in character; putting ordinary people in supernatural situations that will tax their beliefs and challenge their will to live.
The title story is typical. It involves a couple of low level crooks
doing a job that turns bad and quickly takes an occult turn in what
first seems like a standard crime tale. It has a nice twist at the end
and a satisfying shudder-inducing climax.
The second story titled “Lock-In” has a nice otherworldly feel, as
regulars of The Potter’s Wheel become isolated for days in the pub,
unable to leave into a pitch black darkness that dissolves them like
acid if touched. This one has some nice shades of Hodgson and Machen to
it but is still thoroughly modern.
“The Fragile Mask on His Face” also takes place around The Potter’s
Wheel but is the weakest of the five. It involves a missing girl and
doesn’t really go beyond the creepy occult killer (or is it something
else?) stage.
The last two, “The True Spirit” and “The Worst of All Possible
Places,” are the strongest pieces of fiction in the collection. They
seem to speak to the writer’s strength of creating a believable
fictional region with a mysterious past that includes an evil event and
creating characters that will be believably tossed into the chaos. I
enjoyed both of these stories but “The True Spirit” really left me in
the mood to discover more about the strange town called Grudge’s End.
All of the stories kept my interest and all gave me a satisfying
chill at the end. For this type of tale you really cannot ask for much
else. They are the epitome of a “brief scare” and the occult horror
story. Overall, it is a recommended “keep the lights on while reading”
experience.

Charles Black has released the cover art for the next Black Book of Horror, which I am pleased will include my short story Lem. The magnificent and startling artwork is, of course, by Paul Mudie, who has created all of the Black Book covers so far.

Wednesday, 22 July 2015

Announced on the Ray Harryhausen-Foundation facebook page: "Delighted
that Ray Harryhausen is on the Bank of England £20 note shortlist. The
final note is released in 2020 Ray’s centenary. This is how it might
look!"

Thursday, 16 July 2015

Charles Black has released the table of contents for the Eleventh Black Book of Horror and I am chuffed to be in it, alongside some great names in the horror genre! No date as yet as to when the book will be published but I believe it will be soon.